As of January 2025, over 5.24 billion people, approximately 63.9% of the global population, are active on social media platforms.
Social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Pinterest have become digital town squares where people use social media to talk about things they care about, such as products, services, and trends.
If you are a business or content creator, your audience is already there, talking. The smart move? Don’t just listen to them; ask them. Social media surveys are the best way to understand your audience's preferences and make decisions based on real voices, not assumptions.
For example, let’s say your company plans to launch a new fitness app and wants to do market research. You might consider conducting a fun survey using your Instagram Stories for just a few polls and sliders about what they care most about. Offer 1 month of free premium access to the first 100 customers. This way, you can build more excitement around your app and turn your casual followers into supported investors.
You can create your own social media survey in minutes with TheySaid. It's quick, easy, and completely free.
What Are Social Media Surveys?
Social media surveys are quick, interactive questions shared on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, X, and Threads that help brands collect feedback directly from their audience. They can be polls, multiple-choice questions, sliding scales, story stickers, or short open-text questions.
Because they live inside the platforms people already use every day, social media surveys get higher response rates, faster insights, and more natural, real-time feedback compared to traditional survey links.
Benefits of Conducting Social Media Surveys
Conducting social media surveys offers multiple advantages for brands, marketers, and content creators:
User-Centric Campaigns (Let Your Audience Guide the Way)
Social media surveys are valuable tools for market research that shift guesswork into user-focused strategies. Let’s say you are launching a new product. Instead of marketing it the way you think is best, ask your target audience what features they are most excited about or what problem they want to solve through your product. The feedback data from social media polls and social media survey questions becomes the foundation for a user-centric campaign based on real needs, not assumptions.
Don’t wait until a product is live or a campaign is finished to ask for social media feedback. Use surveys before, during, and after your efforts to keep your strategy agile and user-centered.
Related Read: How to Create a Market Research Survey- Step-by-Step Guide
Tuning Into Social Issues
Social media is not just about buying products. People show up to share opinions and engage in conversations about real-world issues. You can share your survey on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter and ask your audience what they think about the recent hot topic or trend going on. This demonstrates that your brand values customer engagement on social media and is committed to understanding and supporting its audience.
Spotting and Addressing Online Harassment
As much as social media brings people together, it has a darker side. Online harassment, trolling, and cyberbullying are still very real problems. If you are a brand or community leader, use your social media platforms to create a safe space for people to start a poll asking if you have ever witnessed or experienced cyberbullying. This simple question opens conversations and lets people share their experiences and give suggestions on how to deal with it.
Real-Time Feedback for Agile Decision-Making
Social media facilitates immediate decision-making based on real-time responses. A quick poll on Instagram Stories gets hundreds of responses within hours or sometimes even minutes. For example, a quick poll on Instagram Stories asking, “Which logo feels more modern to you?” can help a brand finalize the logo on the same day.
Some of the incredibly flexible tools are :
- Quick polls for instant reactions
- Question boxes for open feedback
- Emoji sliders for sentiment checks
All these tools are at your fingertips, and they cost exactly $0 to use.
Real-Time Interaction = Real Results
Recommended Read: Social Media Usage Survey: Questions, Use Cases & Insights
Tips to Run Effective Social Media Surveys for Maximum Engagement
Here’s how to run social media surveys that actually get responses, spark engagement, and turn feedback into action.
Choose Top Social Media Platforms for Running Effective Surveys
To get meaningful results, it’s important to know where your audience spends time online. Using platform-specific polls and survey questions ensures higher participation and more reliable feedback for your brand.
Here’s a breakdown of major social networks, their user base, and key demographics:
Start with the Right Platform
To create an effective marketing strategy, it's important to know which platform your audience spends most of their time on. Tools like Instagram Insights, Twitter Analytics, and LinkedIn’s analytics dashboard will help you audit your audience's behavior.
Ask yourself which platforms deserve your attention, what type of content you should post ( Videos, reels, blog posts, infographics), and which influencers or creators you might want to collaborate with.
For example, if you are a skin care brand targeting Gen Z, Instagram and TikTok are your platforms. You can create polls on Instagram stories asking if you prefer gel-based or cream-based moisturizers. Maybe tease a new product that matches the winning preference. Similarly, LinkedIn is your place if you’re in a B2B brand aiming for marketing professionals.
Create strategic polls asking, What’s your biggest challenge in lead generation, content creation, or analytics? It not only gets your desired data but also positions you as a brand that actually listens to your audience in the industry..
Reward Participation (But Make It Genuine)
People love creative content that gives them a peek into themselves. Create playful polls and personality style surveys to drive engagement. Thank them for their valuable feedback with some incentives, rewards, or a discount code.
Here’s an example for you:
We're designing our next product and want your opinion! Take our 3-question poll and enter to win a $35 gift card.
Boost Reach with Influencers & Followers
Want more people to see and respond to your survey? Let your followers help you spread the word. Ask your people to share your survey with friends, retweet, and repost. Work with influencers in your niche and have them ask the question on their page. Their followers are likely to be your audience, too.
Turn Feedback into Content That Connects (and Builds Loyalty too)
The insights you gain from social media surveys help you develop better products and fuel your content strategy. When you are fully aware of what your audience is curious about, struggling with, or excited for, you can create content that they understand, and when they feel understood, they stick around. For example, if you run a productivity-focused brand and 60% of your customers say they struggle with time management, it's your cue to write a blog, record a podcast, or create a short video addressing the issue. This kind of response builds trust, loyalty, and engagement..
How a B2B SaaS Company Used Social Media Surveys to Understand Customers
A B2B SaaS company wanted to understand the biggest challenges their customers faced with lead generation and product usage. They ran a LinkedIn survey using Theysaid asking, “What’s your biggest challenge in lead generation?”
The results were impressive: the survey achieved a 28% response rate, compared to just 6% on their previous forms. Most respondents reported struggling with campaign automation and analytics reporting, which allowed the company to adjust onboarding and release targeted tutorial content.
As a result, survey participants were 15% more likely to engage with new features, demonstrating how social media surveys and AI-driven feedback can provide actionable insights while boosting customer engagement on social media.
Ready to get actionable insights from your audience? Create your first AI-powered social media survey with TheySaid.
Did you know?
70.1% of the total US population actively uses social media, totaling a number of 239 million people
20+ Social Media Survey Questions to Understand Your Audience Better
Use these social media survey questions to gather meaningful feedback, understand customer behavior, and boost engagement across platforms.Feel free to customize each question depending on your brand goals or the type of social media feedback you want to collect.
Product Feedback
- Which feature do you find most efficient in our app?
A. Speed
B. Design
C. Ease of use
D. Customer support - How would you rate the value for the price?
A. Excellent
B. Good
C. Fair
D. Too expensive - Which feature would you like us to improve next?
A. Interface
B. Notifications
C. Support options
D. Overall performance - How satisfied are you with our latest update?
A. Very satisfied
B. Satisfied
C. Neutral
D. Unsatisfied
Market Research
- Where do you usually discover new products?
A. Facebook
B. Instagram
C. YouTube
D. Friends’ recommendations - What influences your buying decision the most?
A. Price
B. Quality
C. Brand values
D. Social media presence - What type of content influences you the most?
A. Tutorials
B. Product demos
C. Testimonials
D. Influencer reviews - How likely are you to try a new brand you saw on social media?
A. Very likely
B. Likely
C. Neutral
D. Unlikely
Harassment & Bullying
- Have you ever experienced or witnessed cyberbullying?
(Open text field) - Do you feel safe sharing your thoughts online?
A. Always
B. Sometimes
C. Rarely
D. Never - Have you ever reported inappropriate behavior on a social platform?
A. Yes
B. No
C. I wanted to but didn’t
D. Not sure - Do you believe social platforms handle harassment fairly?
A. Yes
B. Sometimes
C. Rarely
D. No
General Social Media Usage
- Which social media channels are you most active on?
A. Facebook
B. Instagram
C. X (Twitter)
D. Snapchat
E. LinkedIn
F. Telegram
G. Other (please specify) - How much time do you spend on social media each day?
A. Less than 1 hour
B. 1–3 hours
C. 4–6 hours
D. 7–9 hours
E. 10+ hours - What type of content do you engage with the most?
A. Memes
B. Educational posts
C. News updates
D. Product recommendations - When do you usually use social media?
A. Morning
B. Afternoon
C. Evening
D. Late night
Audience Preferences & Behavior
- Why do you follow brands on social media?
A. Discounts
B. Useful content
C. New product updates
D. Entertainment - What makes you unfollow a page?
A. Too many ads
B. Irrelevant content
C. Negative interactions
D. Loss of interest - What motivates you to participate in polls or surveys?
A. They're quick
B. Incentives
C. Interesting topics
D. Curiosity
Content Performance & Engagement
- Which format grabs your attention the fastest?
A. Short videos
B. Carousels
C. Static images
D. Text posts - Which type of posts do you share most often?
A. Memes
B. Inspirational quotes
C. Helpful tips
D. Product deals
Perception & Trust
- How trustworthy do you find brand claims made on social media?
A. Very trustworthy
B. Somewhat trustworthy
C. Neutral
D. Not trustworthy
23. What increases your trust in a brand’s social content?
A. Real customer reviews
B. Video testimonials
C. Transparent communication
D. Verified accounts
Recommended read: 50 Best Customer Feedback Questions
How to create social media surveys with TheySaid
Traditional surveys kind of sucks. They are long and boring and feel like homework. But when you use social media surveys, especially with a tool like TheySaid, things get way more interesting.
You meet people where they already are (Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter), ask smarter questions, and get feedback that helps you make decisions. And the best part? AI does most of the work.
Here’s a step-by-step guide for creating a social media survey with TheySaid
Let TheySaid Learn About Your Business
All you have to do is enter the URL of your website, and AI will automatically learn about your business. From there, you can create a pulse check (like NPS or CSAT), a full AI survey, polls,or even an AI-powered interview.
Use AI to Build Your Survey in Seconds
Forget spending hours writing survey questions. AI will generate smarter and more relevant questions in seconds. Opt for an AI interview to simulate real conversations with your audience.
Choose the Right Format for Social Media
TheySaid supports multiple ways to share your survey:
- Share a direct link in your social media post or bio.
- Add a QR code to an Instagram image or Twitter graphic.
- Embed it in a social story or carousel with a CTA.
- Use Slack or in-app chat if you’re targeting internal teams or B2B users.
Read - Social Media Usage Survey: Stats, Questions, & Survey Insights
Let AI Handle the Analysis
Once the responses start rolling in, TheySaid goes to work by summarizing trends, flagging action items and follow-ups, and helping you create actionable strategies. Basically, it saves you from sifting through a mountain of raw answers. You get the insights without the overwhelm.
Stop guessing what your customers are thinking and start real conversations.
Try TheySaid free today and create your first AI-powered social media survey in minutes.
Key Takeaways
- Instead of guessing what people want, ask them directly through social media surveys.
- Use platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn to run quick, easy surveys that feel native to the social experience.
- Surveys double as engagement tools. Turn responses into blog posts, product updates, and community-building efforts.
- Address online harassment through thoughtful, safe-space surveys that give voice to your audience’s experiences.
- With AI-powered survey creation, auto-analysis, and flexible sharing tools, TheySaid helps you build smarter and faster social media surveys.
FAQs
What are social media surveys?
Social media surveys are quick, interactive questionnaires shared on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to gather insights from your followers and audience.
How often should I run a social media survey?
It depends on your goals! Once a week for ongoing feedback or before and after a launch or campaign for targeted insights.
Are social media surveys secure and private?
If you're collecting sensitive feedback, always inform your audience how their data will be used. With TheySaid, your data stays secure, and insights are handled ethically.
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